NO EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

In Nepal, schooling leads to significant costs for the families, from fees to high costs for books, school bags, stationary, school uniforms, shoes and tutoring. Especially for poor families, this is mostly unaffordable, even more when there is more than one child of school age.

Women and girls in the villages traditionally have a very weak social status and often have no chance on regular education. Therefore, mostly boys get the opportunity for education. Girls almost always lose out. They have to help in the household and work on the fields, as they are urgently needed to make a living due to the low income of the parents. In addition, many girls are still being married at early age. Almost half of the 15- to 19-years old girls are already married and have children. The life expectancy of Dalit women in Chitwan is about 10 years lower than the national average.